Assumed
by tastewithouttalent
Summary: "But Takeda is smiling up at him, his whole face bright with that happiness that has only become more pronounced the closer the holidays draw, and Ukai can't find even token resistance to offer to the other's cheer." Takeda offers a formal invitation and Ukai teases him.


It is _cold_ outside the convenience store.

" _Fuck_ ," Ukai hisses, hunching his shoulders up around his ears and crossing his arms tight over his chest. "It's _freezing_ out here."

"It is cold!" Takeda agrees without any hesitation or indication of discomfort. The only concession to the cold he's making is the pink flush high across his cheekbones from the bite of the wind that Ukai can feel go through the soft of his sweater as if it's not even there; otherwise he looks as glowingly happy as he ever does, if with far more layers of clothing than he dons in the warmer months. "The forecast predicts snow tonight. We'll have a white Christmas tomorrow morning!"

Ukai wants to growl about this. Snow is all well and good when he's inside, preferably under a kotatsu and _definitely_ wearing more than the one thin sweater he brought with him to work this morning when he left Takeda's home to jog the few blocks in to the store, but under the current circumstances anything that so much as suggests colder weather than what they already have is painful even to contemplate. But Takeda is smiling up at him, his whole face bright with that happiness that has only become more pronounced the closer the holidays draw, and Ukai can't find even token resistance to offer to the other's cheer.

"That'll be pretty," he says instead, because it will be, and because he can already imagine the bright of Takeda's eyes sparkling with childlike excitement when they get up tomorrow. "It's always nice to have snow at Christmas."

"It'll make everything even more festive," Takeda agrees. "At least you won't be driving in it tomorrow."

"Yeah," Ukai agrees. "I can't make it around in more than about an inch of snow anyway. If there's any more than that I'd be homebound even if I did have plans to go somewhere else."

"I suppose so," Takeda says. He sounds thoughtful, a little bit distracted, like he's turning over another idea in his head; when Ukai glances sideways at him Takeda is gazing out at the sidewalk in front of them, his gaze unfocused and his mouth shifting over some unvoiced uncertainty. Ukai raises an eyebrow and tips in to bump against Takeda's shoulder. "What's up, sensei?"

"Hm?" Takeda jumps, startled out of his reverie to blink up at Ukai next to him. "Ah. I was just thinking."

"Yeah," Ukai says, feeling a smile starting to pull at the corner of his mouth. "What about?"

Takeda ducks his head to look at the pavement in front of them. "Tomorrow, actually," he says. He catches his hands in against each other, curling his fingers together in the obvious tell he always adopts when he's nervous. Ukai wonders, sometimes, if Takeda knows how easy it is to tell how he's feeling at any given moment. Then again, Ukai kind of doubts the tug of the smile at the corner of his own mouth is any more subtle.

"Okay," Ukai prompts, leaning hard against Takeda's shoulder as he smiles down at the dark of the other's hair. "Go on, sensei, you have my attention."

Takeda glances up at him, huffing a laugh before he ducks his head down over the flex of his fingers once more. "Ah. Yes. I just thought perhaps I should formally invite you over for Christmas day."

Ukai can feel his mouth tug wider on a grin, can feel the whole of his chest go warm in absolute defiance of the chill clinging to the air. "Formally?" he asks, the word pulling into the beginning of a laugh as it spills from his lips. "Did you think I might have some other plans or something?"

"Not exactly," Takeda says, looking up from behind the shine of his glasses to smile at Ukai. "I just realized I hadn't properly invited you over and I thought I should remedy that."

Ukai clears his throat. "Yeah," he says. "I appreciate it, but I _am_ doing something already."

Takeda's eyes go wide, his mouth goes soft. "Oh," he says, his voice dipping to quiet as he blinks himself through surprise. "Of course. I'm sorry I didn't ask earlier, I shouldn't have-"

"It's my boyfriend," Ukai says, turning to look back to the dark of the sidewalk in front of them. "We've only been dating for a few months but I'm pretty serious about him and I was planning to spend the day with him." He glances sideways, feeling his grin pulling wider when he sees the way Takeda is blinking starstruck up at him, with the whole of his expression melting into disbelieving delight as Ukai goes on. "Especially if it's going to be snowing, I don't want to do anything but laze around with him all day."

Takeda sighs an exhale, his whole face coming alive as if the summer sun is rising behind his eyes. "You worried me for a minute there."

"Yeah, well." Ukai looks back in front of them, gazing at the sidewalk without really seeing it at all. "You should've known I would be spending Christmas with you. Who else would I want to be with?"

"You have your family close by," Takeda suggests. "Maybe you have obligations for the holiday, I didn't want to intrude on them."

"If I did I'd just take you with me," Ukai informs him. "And my family's laid-back anyway, it's fine." He unfolds his arms from over his chest, fits one hand into his pocket in pursuit of some futile attempt at warmth as he lets the other fall open at his side. "We can do a New Year's visit to see 'em, if you're really that worried about it."

"I'm not worried," Takeda says. He has his head ducked down, his attention fixing on Ukai's hand at his side; Ukai can hear the smile on the other's voice even before he glances sideways to see the bright of it at Takeda's lips, is sure of Takeda's fingers closing around his even before the weight of the other's glove drags over his hand as Takeda slides his hand into Ukai's. "I'm looking forward to Christmas morning with you."

Ukai slides his hand in close against Takeda's, shifts his fingers to interlace them with the other's so he can squeeze gently against the resistance of Takeda's hand. "Yeah," he says, and ducks in to press his mouth against the dark of Takeda's hair, where the ends of it are curling against the other's forehead. Takeda huffs a startled exhale, turns his head in to meet Ukai's mouth, and Ukai shuts his eyes for a moment, feeling his mouth curve onto a smile against Takeda's skin. "Me too."

The wind cuts cold through his sweater, but Takeda's hand in his is as warm as the affection in Ukai's chest.


End file.
